The film's budget was a whopping $50 million, which at the time was unheard of for a film that had no major leading stars in its cast.
Although he normally did not enjoy films which show children or infants in danger, Gene Siskel gave this movie a "thumbs up" while Roger Ebert disliked the movie, and told Siskel he should be ashamed of himself. Their sharp disagreement has since become a popular Internet video.
Verne Troyer, who's uncredited in the film, played the stunt baby Bink for several major shots including the construction site. For other shots, a robotic stunt baby was used.
There was plans for a sequel called "Baby's Trip to China", which got cancelled.
In a 2009 essay, published after the death of John Hughes, Roger Ebert included this tidbit about a trip to India: "Once when I was visiting the largest movie theater in Calcutta, I asked if Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) had been their most successful American film. No, I was told, it was Baby's Day Out, a Hughes comedy about a baby wandering through a big city, which played for more than a year." An Indian remake, Sisindri (1995) was released the following year. However Jurassic Park (1993) was the most successful American film in all of India back in 1994.